What is with this new "Studio Talk" forum? It appears to be a new version of the existing "DVD Talk" forum but with far fewer posts?

Geoff, what was the intention behind creating the new "Studio Talk" forum and what are its ground rules?

From what I have seen the only threads in there are just discussing specific DVDs. I thought such posts were intended to be placed in the "DVD Talk" forum.

By "Studio" I figured it would be a forum for discussion on the DVD Studios, Movie Studios in general, etc. Even then, I am not sure that type of discussion deserves its own "forum".

Sorry if I am off base with my questions and concerns but "DVD Talk" just isn't what it used to be. It seems like every other day a new "forum" pops up for whatever is popular at the moment. What is even more odd is that the "Feedback" section is filled with requests for new "forums" and while those requests are never fulfilled we keep coming back here to find new forums such as "Studio Talk" that just appear out of nowhere.

Am I alone in this? I know others feel the same hence the latest "Too many forums??" thread.

I really liked DVD Talk when it was just:

DVD Talk
DVD Bargains
Other Bargains

If DVD Talk continues growing to make everybody happy with all these new forums the servers are bound to suffer.

Okay, I'll admit, I did not read the "Welcome to Studio Talk" thread before creating this thread.

But still, I think "Studio Talk" is unneeded. If the studios are so interested in what we have to say then "DVD Talk" should be fine. How can a thread in "Studio Talk" get more attention than a thread titled "Lets Boycott the new Rocky DVDs" over at "DVD Talk"? I really don't think there is a difference. Besides, when there is a new DVD coming out or an existing one that has a problem I expect to hear about it over at "DVD Talk" and don't really like the idea of having to go check "Studio Talk" to see if there is something there.

The people that posted in the "Welcome" thread appeared to love the idea of such a "forum" but when you really think about it, such a "forum" is NOT needed. Such discussions are already covered in "DVD Talk".

I for one am getting tired of having to wonder when I create a thread "should this be here or is there some new forum I should be putting this in... this is where everyone else posts".

we do have too many forums- 18. I think the idea is to reduce traffic on existing forums. the problem is that with less traffic comes less interest IMHO.

I posted in the Studio forum that I thought it was a good idea because Geoff mentioned that a few companies in particular had told him they will be checking in with that forum to discuss their DVD output with us. To me, that's as awesome as it gets... direct contact with the studios. It remains to be seen if the studios will in fact respond in those threads. Don't ditch a good idea for a new forum like Studio Talk when there are other lame brain forums like Other and Book Talk for those who like to babble about non-DVD and non-movie subjects. Give it a chance, hopefully things will really kick in gear the next few weeks.

IF these "studio" people do actually come and participate with the discussion in the new "Studio Talk" forum then yeah, I think that would be great. However, these same "studio" people could do the same thing in the "DVD Talk" forum. In fact, the "DVD Talk" forum gets the most non-pad traffic at this site and is where everyone goes. If I were a "studio" exec and I wanted to know what people really think I would spend my time at "DVD Talk" and I wouldn't want to have to wade through both the "Studio Talk" forum and "DVD Talk" to get the scoop.

But, like I said, if these "studio" people do follow through then it will be worth while.

Just for the record, Martin Blythe, the PR man for Paramount's DVD division HAS been reading and responding to threads in the main forum for the past couple of months. I assume he will continue to do so in the new Studio Talk forum.

That is good to know... now if only the people from MGM would take some interest... maybe they could put out a quality product for once.

That's the whole point of having a Studio Talk forum... so the studio reps don't have to wade thru all of the threads in the DVDTalk forum. If they are willing to particiate in discussion with us I say why make it any less convenient than it has to be.

Hopefully by having a specific forum just for studios, it will foster even more interaction between the studios and the consumors. Also it is nice to have all related posts in one centralized area, to facilitate the answering of questions. Threads just in DVD Talk could easily get bumped down while waiting for responses, never to be answered by a studio.

J